Records found with the remains indicated the abortions had taken place in South Bend, Fort Wayne and Gary, so Indiana Attorney General Curtis T. Hill Jr. took possession of them.

"You could see his consternation when he said that for some people it was all about celibacy and not about the Amazon," said Bishop William A. Wack of Pensacola-Tallahassee.

In remote rural swathe known as the Wild West of Honduras, said to be a bandits' hideout where it is "easy to get in, tough to get out," the church finds itself once again at the forefront of a movement for justice.

The threat of spreading the coronavirus has forced Catholic officials in Hong Kong to suspend all church programs Feb. 15-28, including Sunday Masses and the Ash Wednesday liturgy that marks the beginning of Lent.

Sister Rose Bertoldo, a member of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who attended the synod, told CNS the document "left much to be desired in terms of the ordination of married men to (serve in) remote places."

The report found a total of 2,713 cases of leafleting on and off campus — an average of more than seven per day— nationwide, compared with 1,214 in 2018.